Electrolytic recorder with recording medium conductivity responsive feed out control



Dec. 12, 1967 P. R. MARZAN ELECTROLYTIC RECORDER WITH RECORDING MEDIUM CONDUCTIVITY RESPONSIVE FEED OUT CONTROL Filed Jan. 2'7, 1966 Feed Motor (fill/70m) 3,353,290 ELECTROLYTIC RECORDER WITH MEDIUM CONDUCTIVITY OUT CONTROL Peter R. Marzan, New Ci terns, km, land RECORDING RESPONSIVE- FEED ty, N.Y., assignor to Litton Sys- Beverly Hills, Caiifl, a corporation of Mary- Filed Jan. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 523,336

Claims. (Cl. 346-136) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Paper runout for an electrolytic recorder controlled by the electrical conductivity of the recording paper at the recording area.

This invention relates to recorders of the type employing electrosensitive paper, and particularly to paper feed control for a recorder employing so-called electrolytic paper.

Where wet or In most cases the supply of recording paper is sealed in an air-tight container mounted adjacent to the recordrecording point dries out and becomes unusable.

in the past, this difficulty has been avoided by feeding vide automatic control of paper feed which will run out the paper precisely to the extent necessary to insure satis- 3,358,290 Patented Dec. 12, 1967 factory recording, this control being effective each time a new message is started.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rapid feed or runout of the recording paper in a facsimile rerecording stylus or the control system.

In accordance with or the like employing countered in the operation of the recorder.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a facsimile recorder of the so-called electrolytic type with certain parts omitted for the sake of clarity;

FIG. 2 is a detailed. view showing one form of drive and clutch mechanism for the feed roller of the recorder shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of the paper feedout control system embodying the invention and adapted to be used for the control of a recorder such as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The recording paper 13 is shown as a continuous web of paper which is drawn from a supply roll 15 contained within a sealed enclosure consisting of a bottom half 16,

which is fixed in position, and a removable top half 17. The top half 17 of the enclosure is supported upon a pair of parallel pivoted rocker arms 18, only one of which is shown. The rocker arms 18 are pivoted on a shaft or bearing 19 so that the top of the sealed casing may be lifted to facilitate replacement of the supply roll 15 and of the recording blade 12. The contacting edges of the two halves of the sealed casing may be provided with rubber sealing strips, if desired, as indicated at 21 and 22.

v or unwind, depending, upon the relative direction of rota-- The web of recording paper 13 is drawn through the 1 recording mechanism 11, 12 by a rotatable. driven feed roller 25 mounted adjacent a pressure roller 26. The paper is gripped between the rotatable rollers 25 and 26 so that it may be advanced at a uniform slow rate by therotation of the feed roller 25 during the recording of a message on the paper. The feed roller 25 is also provided with a drive beltor chain 27 to effect a rapid runout of the paper, as will be described below., A heating member 28 is provided underneath the surface of the recording web. 13 to remove moisture from the printed copy before the copy is fed out from the recorder 15. An adjustable tensioning roller 29 may also be, provided, if desired, for adjusting the tension of the web and maintaining the web in contact with the surface of the heating element 28. Conventional adjusting means 31 is provided for adjusting the position and pressure of the recording blade 12 on the surface of the web 13. It will be understood, that the detailed construction of the recording mechanism referred to above is merely shown by way of example and various conventional recording devices may be substituted for that shown and described.

The invention resides in the provision for controlling the feedout of the recording web 13, for example, when the web is dried out between the sealed supply roll 15 and the recorder blade 12. An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 by way of example. Since the. normally slow paper feed during recording is much slower than that desired for the runout of paper which has been dried out by exposure, to the air, a two-speed drive mechanism for the feed roller 25 is employed. The. feed. roller 25 is driven at a slow rate of speed by the motor which drives the helix drum and since this is common in the prior art, it is not illustrated. In FIG. 2 an extension 33 of the shaft of the feed roller 25 supports a worm gear 34. and a pulley 35, both of which are freely rotatable on the shaft extension 33.

When the high-speed drive through the pulley 35 is not operative, the feed roller 25 is driven at the uniform slow rate of rotation required during the recording process by the worm gear 34. The worm gear 34 may be driven as indicated by a worm on the shaft 36 connected to any suitable constant-speed motor such as that employed to rotatethe. helix drum 10.. An overrunning clutch drive is provided to enable the drive belt 27 through the pulley 35. to rotate the feed roller 25 at a higher speed without disconnecting the slow-speed drive through gear 34. By way of example, the overrunning drive arrangement, as shown, includes two hub members 38 and 39, which are pinned to the extension 33 of the feed roller shaft at 40 and 41, respectively. The overrunning clutch devices illustrated are. similar to the one-way drive overrunning clutch of the coiled spring type, which is manufactured by Curtiss- Wright Corporation Marquette Division, 1145 Galewood Drive, Cleveland, Ohio. As shown, the hub members 38. and 39 are provided with concentric shoulders 43, 44 abutting the ends of shoulders 45, 46 formed integrally with the gear 34 and drive member 42. Each clutch assembly includes the helical coiled springs 48 and 49, re-

spectively, which are of substantially the same inside diameter as the outside diameter of the shoulders 4346 and cover substantially the entire length of the shoulders. As well known in the art, such a clutch configuration results in a one-way drive since the inside of the coiled spring tends to wind up and, grip the. surfaces of the hubs,

tion.

Therefore, while the drive is effected through the worm gear 34, the pulley 35 remains stationary and has no retarding force on the rotation of the shaft of the feed roller 25. However, when the runout drive belt 27 rotates the pulley 35 at a higher speed, the feed roller 25 rotates at the high runout paper speed determined by the rotative speed of the pulley 35. Other suitable drive mechanisms obviously may be substituted for that shown by way of example.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit diagram of a typical control system for'the paper feed described above. Referring to this figure, the feed motor 51 for driving the feed roller 25 through belt 27 is connected through normally closed left-hand contacts of a relay 52 and the contact of a manually or automatically operated switch 53 to a source of a current 54 for operating the motor. The switch 53 is closed at the beginning of a message to start the recorder. Relay 52 is connected in series from a source of negative potential, upper contacts of switch 53, an adjustable rheostat 55, the winding of relay 52, and thenormally closed right-hand contacts of relay 52 to the recording blade 12, which is in contact with the recording paper. Relay 52 is shunted by a capacitor 56 to render the relay slow to operate or release. If the recording paper between the recording electrodes 11 and 12 is too dry to record properly, the conductivity of the path through the winding of relay 52 is too low to permit the relay to operate and the feed motor 51 runs out a length of the recording web at a relatively high speed. The rheostat 55 permits adjustment of the point at which the relay 52 operates.

When the runout of recording paper brings a moist section of the paper suitable for recording underneath the recorder blade 12, the increased conductivity through the paper operates relay 52 to open the circuit of the feed I motor 51. At the inner normally open contacts of relay 52, the recorder amplifier 60 is connected to the recording mechanism 11, 12 and recording starts. Relay 52 is locked up through a locking circuit, including the right-hand outer normally open contacts of said relay, until switch 53 opens at the end of the message.

It should be understood that the detailed disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only, and the invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the, appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical recorder for marking a web or strip of recording, paper of the type which dries out upon exposure to the atmosphere during intermittent operation of the recorder, comprising:

recording mechanism,

means for feeding the web of recording paper through said recording mechanism during recording, and runout means responsive to the electrical conductivity of the paper for rapidly feeding out a length of paper which is dried to a point that affects the recording.

2. An electrical recorder according to claim 1, in which said runout paper feed means includes the recording ele ment of the recording mechanism.

3. An electrical recorder according to claim 1, in which a relay is provided for controlling the paper runout, said relay being connected in series with an element of the recording mechanism to be responsive to the electrical means for rapidly feeding out a length of said strip or web of paper, and relay means in circuit with said recording blade for energizing said paper feeding means in response to a predetermined electrical conductivity of the strip or web of paper at the point of contact with said recording blade. 6. An electrical recorder according to claim 5, in which said relay means controls the time when the recording of signals starts on said recording strip or web.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS STEPHEN J. TOMSKY, Primary Examiner. RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Examiner.

10 E. C. SIMMONS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ELECTRICAL RECORDER FOR MARKING A WEB OR STRIP OF RECORDING PAPER OF THE TYPE WHICH DRIES OUT UPON EXPOSURE TO THE ATMOSPHERE DURING INTERMITTENT OPERATION OF THE RECORDER, COMPRISING: RECORDING MECHANISM, MEANS FOR FEEDING THE WEB OF RECORDING PAPER THROUGH SAID RECORDING MECHANISM DURING RECORDING, AND RUNOUT MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THE PAPER FOR RAPIDLY FEEDING OUT A LENGTH OF PAPER WHICH IS DRIED TO A POINT THAT EFFECTS THE RECORDING. 